The Blackwolf Saga: In the Beginning
by RAustin
Summary: This is really meant to be read after everything else. It's the story of how Raven first met David. This ties in to the whole B.B./Terra saga, but is set about a year before all that.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes:

Let's make sure we're clear on the sequence of this stuff. "Best Boy and Terra Escape" came first and is unrelated, check it out if you care. The fun starts with "The Blackwolf Intervention," and its accompanying "Deleted Scenes." The second story, "The Blackwolf Reunion," is followed by its "Additional Dialogues." This one, "In the Beginning," should come after all those. If you read this one first you're going to think 'well this is just some guy going on about how cool his own original character is.' Yes, there's a lot of David in this, there kind of has to be. It's about him and Raven.

My thanks to 'The Duelist's Heiress' for encouraging me to write this. The last chapter of "Additional Dialogues" is a conversation much, much later, about the events of this story. I wasn't planning to write it beyond that, but TDH suggested it, and I thought it could be fun. And so, I present to you what will most likely be the final chapter in the Blackwolf Saga, I give you "In the Beginning."

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The Blackwolf Saga: In the Beginning

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ONE

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There they were, surrounded by a huge army of robot battledroids. The Teen Titans stood in a ring back to back, prepared for an attack. Half a dozen massive bipedal walkers stood around them, along with twice as many 8 foot humanoids, and too many man-sized droids to count. The enemy of the day was some guy dressed like Darth Vader and calling himself 'The Death Lord.' He stood on a small flying skiff that hung above their heads, laughing.

"Soon the Teen Titans will be no more!" he shouted down to them.

Beast Boy looked over to Robin. "The 'Death Lord'? Is he serious?"

Cyborg added, "Could he have come up with something a little more campy?"

"Whoever he is, he means business," Robin replied gruffly. "Titans, stand ready."

"Enough talk!" the villain cried out. "Robots … ATTACK!!"

At once, the army was upon them. Robin waded into a sea of man-sized droids, he staff whirling in every direction, as Starfire and Raven took to the air and each assaulted one of the large walkers. 15 feet tall, they were two legs supporting a pod covered in blaster cannons and machine guns, no match for the girls of the Titans.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Cyborg and Beast Boy laid into them. While Cyborg duked it out with the big ones, B.B. chewed up droids as a mega-raptor, mainly, but changed it up a bit with a grizzly and an ape, among other things.

Raven took a surprise hit to the back and hit the ground. She rolled over to see one of the 8 foot droids standing over her, taking aim. Her shield went up instantly, but before either she or the droid could attack, it was hit from the side by a massive bolt of green light. It looked a lot like a star-bolt, but was much bigger than anything she ever threw. Raven wondered for half a second if it was Cyborg who fired, but that looks different, too. Whatever it was, it flattened the droid in one shot, knocking it off to one side. She looked to see where the shot had come from, and the only thing in that direction was a civilian, standing casually next to a car. A young man in a gray trench coat stood leaning on a cane. He smiled and waved at her.

Raven had though all the civilians had cleared out of the area. This one just stood there, apparently oblivious to the fact that a battle was raging all around him. 'The idiot probably thinks this is exciting,' Raven thought as she got up and ran toward him, to move him to safety.

"Hi, I'm David!" he called out over the noise of the battle. "You must be Raven!" Before she could reply, he shouted, "Oh, watch out!" and fired from his hand a massive bolt of green energy. Raven turned to see it obliterate another of the big droids, and looked back to him in surprise.

"Um …" was all she got out, then he held up a finger to stop her.

"Introductions in a moment. First, you guys mind if I lend a hand?" he said with a playful grin. He then stepped past her and charged into the battledroids.

"Um …" Raven said again. She prepared to step back into the fight as well, but found she didn't need to. All of the remaining droids had turned on their new target. She watched with wonder and confusion as this strange man took on all of them at once. He stood surrounded by an invisible bubble that sparked green wherever it repelled an enemy blast. A cluster of the smaller droids charged him, and as he raised his hand dramatically, a jagged wave of hard, solid, black mass grew up from the ground, forming a wall in front of them.

The last of the large cannon-pods fired on him, and as he jumped out of the way, he gestured with his cane and a strand of glowing green energy shot out like a whip and wrapped around its leg. When he pulled back its leg came out from under it, and it went down. He turned to a group of the smaller droids, waved his hand at them forcefully, and they all froze suddenly, turning hard and gray, apparently turned to stone.

Several of the ones behind his black wall had climbed to the top of it, so with a wave of his hand it disappeared, and they fell to the ground. He was taking fire from several sides, then suddenly, with a flash of green light, he was no longer there. There was a second flash at the same time, over on the roof of a nearby car, and he appeared standing there. The remaining droids were all standing in a cluster around where he had just been, and as he raised his hand toward them, a circular wall of green energy came up around them, quickly forming a sphere that held them all off the ground. He closed his hand and the sphere began to shrink.

The cannon-pod with a broken leg lay on its side, and started to fire on him. His spherical shield caught it, and he gestured with his cane toward it. A ghostly green energy shot out over the droid and solidified into a giant axe head, which came down and crushed the life out of it. As the energetic axe disappeared, he turned his attention back to the shrinking sphere. It disappeared, revealing a ball of crushed metal, which fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

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He looked for another target and found there were none left, so he hopped down from the car top and walked casually toward Robin, who stood with the badguy, the 'Death Lord,' in handcuffs on the ground at his feet.

"Got 'em, I see," he said with a smile. "Good job. Hi, David Blackwolf," he said, extending his hand to Robin. "You must be Robin."

"Yes, I am," he replied slowly as they shook hands. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm …" he started, then looked around. The team had gathered around to see what was going on. He turned to Raven. "I'm here to see you, actually."

"Me?" she said, clearly surprised. "Um …" She didn't know what to say. "Hi?"

He laughed. "Hi. David Blackwolf, it's a real pleasure," he said as he shook her hand.

She took a moment to look him over again, this curious stranger. In his twenties, shaggy black hair that contrasted bright blue eyes, he was dressed in black, dress shirt and pants, with a loose gray trench coat, and he still carried a cane that was more of a walking stick, which he clearly didn't need for support. It had a green crystal head which was still giving off a little light. He must have noticed her looking at it.

"It's my mage staff," he said, holding it up to her.

"And you're a mage?" she asked.

"I am. Wizard, sorcerer, magician, whatever. A user of magic. As are you, I believe."

She nodded. "That's right. So are you … I mean, what do you want with me?"

"Oh, just … to know you, I guess. I'm a big fan. You're really quite the superhero. I've heard a lot about you."

Raven looked away and blushed. "Well … thank you."

"And so I came to meet you," he continued. "I was hoping we could talk shop, compare notes, so to speak. I thought maybe I could learn something from you. Maybe …" He paused and flashed her a little smile. "Maybe teach you a thing or two, as well."

Raven looked across the wreckage of the army of battledroids. "That may be," she said softly. "So, um … I'm sorry, how do you know me, again?"

He smiled and shook his head. "You're a superhero, sweetie, you're kinda famous. I'd heard of this powerful teenaged sorceress, and I wanted to come meet you. Maybe you can show me something, maybe I can show you something." He shrugged. "Maybe we can just be friends. Something like that."

She just nodded, then slowly replied, "I think I'd like that."

He again flashed her a big smile. "Excellent. So, Robin," he started turning toward him. "If you need her for post-battle cleanup and such, I understand." He turned back to Raven. "Maybe you and I can arrange to hook up a little later. Just to talk, get to know each other. I could buy you a drink … you're too young to drink … I could buy you a cup of coffee. You know … or something."

Raven considered for a moment. This curious, handsome stranger was interested in getting to know her. This didn't exactly happen a lot. And there was clearly much more to him than meets the eye. Finally, she simply said, "Sure, why not?"

"Excellent," he said again. "When?"

"Actually," she started, turning to her team leader, "Robin, do you need me right now?"

"I guess not, if you want to go get to know our new friend."

Raven turned back to David. "So …" she started shyly, "You want to take me to lunch?"

He flashed the big smile and again said, "Excellent."

Robin started, "David Blackwolf, was it? You have our thanks for your help with this. Perhaps we can work together again in the future."

David nodded. "I'd like that."

"All right, Titans," Robin said to all of them, "Move out."

Before Beast Boy left, he turned to David. "I just wanted to say …" he paused and pointed with both index fingers at the remains of the battle scene, then turned and gave David a big double thumbs up. "Awesome, dude," said enthusiastically. "You rock!"

David just laughed. "Thank you, Beast Boy, that means a lot."

"Hey, you know my name, too?" he said in surprise.

David also looked surprised. "You're a professional superhero, Beast Boy, you're kinda famous."

B.B. got a big goofy grin. "Cooool."

Robin called out, "Beast Boy!" who looked to David and Raven while pointing with both hands back toward Robin.

"Gotta go. See ya," he said quickly, then became a large bird as he turned and flew away.

David shook his head. "Weird kid," he muttered. "Anyway … lunch?"

Raven smiled shyly at him. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, this is your city. I just got here. Do you know a quiet little café or something where we can sit and talk a bit?"

"There's a place on Central. It's not too far from here."

"Great. Um …" He paused and looked around. Police and cleanup crews were started to swarm in, to take care of the mess. "I think we need to get out of their way. Is Central walking distance from here? Lead the way."

"Actually," she started with a small smile as she took a step away from him. A glowing black disk spread from beneath her feet, expanding to large enough for two. It lifted off the ground a few inches, and she said, "Hop on."

"Excellent," he said again as he stepped onto it. They lifted off into the sky and sailed away.


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

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Lunch

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Raven took him to a small, quiet café/coffee house/book store that she liked when she needed to get away. They got a quiet table in the back, a cappuccino and a hot tea, and began proper introductions. David, it turns out, is an alien. His home world is called Valador, and it's in another dimension. He was disappointed at Raven's lack of surprise at this, which she found funny. She had to remind him that one of her teammates is an alien. He's also a powerful mage, mages and magic being relatively common on Valador, and he's immortal, almost 600 years old. He can teleport anywhere in the universe, including across time and parallel dimensions, and he's been traveling for centuries. His explorations led him to Earth, then eventually to this particular Earth, where he's been fascinated with the phenomenon of superheroes. They don't exist on most of the Earths he's been to.

David then insisted it was Raven's turn to talk. He had studied up on her professional life, but could find nothing about her personal life. She reluctantly began her tale, the half-breed daughter of a demon who raped a human woman, raised in an extra-dimensional sanctuary called Azarath, relatively recently come to Earth. She found herself unexpectedly comfortable talking to this man, unexpectedly open. She confided in him that she still felt like a stranger here, even to her own teammates. They were her only friends, but she felt like they didn't really know her. Suddenly, Raven realized she was sitting here telling her innermost feelings to this perfect stranger, quickly shut up, and looked away embarrassment.

It was clear that David knew exactly what had just happened, but he graciously, mercifully, changed the subject, asking her about her magic. His own powers are fueled by an energy called 'mana,' which is everywhere back home, but only exists in very low levels here on Earth. Raven didn't know what energy he was talking about. Her power comes from within, from her own soul, her own force of will. David agreed it was all about force of will, but he spoke of bending this external energy to his will, while Raven saw it as force of will to control the energy inside her. David pointed out, rather bluntly, that she's not human, she's half demon, and that the rest of us don't have that internal energy source to play with. Raven went silent, looked away, and did not respond.

David took her hand and apologized, softly and sincerely, saying he didn't mean it like that, and didn't realize it was such a sensitive subject. He reassured her that she was just as human as her teammates, the mutant and the half-robot, which got a small laugh from her. He reassured her that it was OK to just be herself, and that anyone worth having as a friend would accept her for who she is.

Raven felt like she'd been needing to hear that for a long time. She'd heard it from Robin and the others, but somehow this was different. Though she tried to contain her enthusiasm, Raven was overjoyed to have finally met someone who understood what it was like for her, being different, being an outsider.

David confided in her that he was also always the outsider. He knew half a dozen places where they would welcome him 'home,' including the one where he had actually been born and raised, but none of them, even that one, felt like what a proper home should be. He always knows he'll be leaving again someday, which makes it hard to 'put down roots,' so to speak. He always knows he'll outlive his friends, move on to greater adventure when they're old and gray, and long after they've been put to rest. That is the curse of being immortal.

Of course, the benefit is countless lifetimes of experiences on exotic worlds across the stars. After their rather intense heart to heart, David lightened the mood with a few tales of his past, stories from other worlds. He thought she might like to start close to home, with what led him to her. Originally, he had found the Earth quite by accident. He had run into Earthlings on an alien planet, befriended them, and gone on their starship back to their home world. He was fascinated with Earth primarily because it had humans, identical to the human race that lived on Valador. He calls this 'cosmic coincidence,' and says it actually happens a lot.

David has been exploring the Earth for a while now, different continents, different centuries, different timelines. He decided circa 2000 was when it really got interesting, and has been traveling the U.S. and Europe, bouncing across timelines, checking out alternate versions, until he came upon her world, a world full of superheroes.

The entire phenomenon of superpowered people fascinated him. He had never seen it on anywhere near this scale. On most Earths, he said, the idea of someone with actual superpowers was considered science fiction. He explained the 'weirdness scale,' a measurement which he made up for comparing worlds. As a world's weirdness factor goes up, so does the incidence of things considered supernatural or paranormal, such as psychics, mutants, the appearance of ghosts, the practice of magic, and for some reason, the appearance of aliens. He described this world's weirdness factor as 'through the roof,' and Raven laughed.

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Author's notes:

Well, kids, I've hit major writer's block with where to go with this. I honestly don't think this really needs to be finished. The idea is that they talk and get to know each other over the course of a long conversation, several times over the next few days. They get to really like each other, and they both know that they really 'like' each other, and Raven is excited that she might be about to start some kind of romance with this older man. But no, they both agree that she's just too young for him, and they're better off being friends. So, after maybe a few days, he says he's got a universe to explore, and is going to be off. Now that's he's found a world with such a high weirdness factor, he wants to see what it was like in Medieval Europe. He gives her a signal beacon, which he leaves with friends he makes around the universe. It's a temporal-spatial anchor that he can lock on to and teleport to, so if she needs him she can call him. When they say goodbye, I'm picturing a long, tender hug, then as they pull back they very nearly kiss, but hesitate, then pull away. Without a word, David takes a few steps away and triggers his glowing green wormhole bubble. They're looking each other in the eye when the sphere implodes and he's gone. Raven wonders what might have been, while David secretly plans to come back and see her again when she's a young adult. THE END Cut to "The Blackwolf Intervention: Deleted scenes" when she signals him a year later, for a continuation of the story.

I have a question for all my fans. You'll note that in Ch. One I wrote all the dialogue, and in Ch. Two I summed up in paragraph form what they talked about. My question, I guess, is what did you think of that? Was Ch. Two OK? Would you have preferred the actual dialogue? The chapter would have been A LOT longer if I'd gone into the detail of the dialogue, but then, I feel like that's all "Blackwolf Reunion" was, a lot of dialogue. So tell me what you think of the two different styles in this piece.

I struggled at first with whether "Reunion" qualified as fan fiction, both because Logan and Terra are so different from the Beast Boy and Terra of either the cartoon or the comic, and because it co-starred my boy Blackwolf, who I feel is terribly cool, but who doesn't have much business in a fan fiction. I just want to say that I recognize that this piece is particularly bad. There is A LOT of what David does and what he says about himself, poor form in a fanfic. But I figure, you're not meant to be reading this until after you've read all my other stuff, so maybe you care about the character by now.

That's all I got, folks.

PLEASE REVIEW!!


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